A distinctive modernist glass tower located at Footdee, a mile (1.5 km) east of Aberdeen city centre, the Marine Operations Centre controls Aberdeen Harbour from its prominent position on the North Breakwater at the harbour entrance. Commissioned in 2006 at a cost of £4.5 million, it was the work of SMC Parr Architects Ltd and built by Sir Robert McAlpine. The award-winning design was the result of an architectural competition and represents the intersection of a white lighthouse-style tower with an inverted cone of glass which would perhaps be more familiar as an airport control tower. The state-of-the-art Centre provides staff with a view over the modestly-sized but exceptionally busy harbour and incorporates signalling and radar equipment for vessel traffic management. It also includes an emergency response control room and training facilities which feature an advanced ship's bridge simulator.
